Political Animosity

Seven-in-ten Americans say elected officials should avoid heated or aggressive language because it could encourage some people to take violent action.

Americans’ views of politics and elected officials are unrelentingly negative, with little hope of improvement on the horizon. 65% of Americans say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics. By contrast, just 10% say they always or often feel hopeful about politics.

Increasingly, Republicans and Democrats view not just the opposing party but also the people in that party in a negative light. Growing shares in each party now describe those in the other party as more closed-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent than other Americans. Nearly half of younger adults say they "wish there were more parties to choose from."

Pew Research Center’s political typology sorts Americans into cohesive, like-minded groups based on their values, beliefs, and views about politics and the political system. Use this tool to compare the groups on some key topics and their demographics.

New findings reveal exactly how the United States is more divided than the other 16 advanced economies surveyed.

Wide majorities in most of the 17 advanced economies surveyed say having people of many different backgrounds improves their society, but most also see conflicts between partisan, racial and ethnic groups.

“Saddened, hurt, disgusted,” one woman in her 50s said. “Never thought I would see anything like this in my life.”

Roughly four-in-ten Americans have experienced online harassment, with half of this group citing politics as the reason they think they were targeted. Growing shares face more severe online abuse such as sexual harassment or stalking

79% of Americans think social media companies are doing an only fair to poor job when it comes to addressing online harassment or bullying.

Just 21% of Americans say relations between Republicans and Democrats will get better in the coming year; 37% expect relations to worsen.